Faried, who is coming off somewhat of a breakout summer with Team USA during the FIBA World Cup, was voted as the league’s best role player (tied with San Antonio’s Boris Diaw), and earned the fourth-most votes for the best offensive rebounder (7.1 percent), as well as the toughest player in the league (7.4 percent, tied with Sacramento’s Reggie Evans).

Faried also garnered the fifth-most votes (7.4 percent) among players expected to have a breakout season in 2014-15.

The Nuggets faced one of their biggest offensive tests of the preseason so far when they traveled to Chicago to take on the Bulls on Monday.

It started off well enough, as Denver jumped to a 21-point lead midway through the second quarter. But then the Bulls outscored the Nuggets 52-32 in the second half to finish with a 110-90 win.

There were high points for Denver, however. And this turnaround heave at the buzzer by Nate Robinson in the third quarter was certainly one of them. Credit rookie big man Jusuf Nurkic with the assist, too.

Comments Off on WATCH: Nate Robinson nails long, turnaround 3-pointer at the buzzer

Ty Lawson fights for a ball against the Phoenix Suns during a preseason game on Friday. (Rick Scuteri, The Associated Press)

It was at a point late in Sunday’s practice that Nuggets coach Brian Shaw noticed his starting point guard, Ty Lawson, was not just sitting out for rest, but was on a training table with medical staff around him and an ice pack on his left ankle.

Lawson’s ankle will be one to watch this season. He sprained it late last season and missed the last six games because of it, and further tests after the season showed more damage than just a simple sprain. The upshot of it all was Lawson could not run until July and was not able to do a full offseason conditioning program in the manner he wanted.

He will wear a small brace on it on-and-off all season long. And in a season with 21 back-to-backs and a good number of four-games-in-five-nights sets, it will be under constant stress. How much Lawson is used, and how Lawson takes care of himself as well, is already on Shaw’s mind.

Yes, it was a buzzer-beater in a presason game the Nuggets trailed by six. So does it really count? Yes. Sort of. The Nuggets got three points of it.

Regardless, it was an amazing shot. With the Nuggets down 98-92 with 0.1 seconds left, Miller heaved the ball for the game’s final attempt and drained it, bringing the final score to 98-95. Miller had 10 points, two assists and two rebounds in the loss.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.